The unsigned sentence sends another message that the majority of the court has no interest in rereading the last election.
By Monday, judges had already rejected several requests to dive into one of the most contentious elections in history, denying requests by then-President Donald Trump and other Republicans seeking to overturn the election result in several states won by President Joe Biden.
No dissents were observed.
“Again, the court’s turnout in the 2020 election will come with a lament, not an outburst,” said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas Law School.
It was a hotly debated issue in the weeks before and after the election, as some Republicans complained that state courts could not have the last word on their state voting rules.
The argument says the Constitution gives the state legislature – not the governor or state courts – the last word on elections and how states choose voters. Critics of the so-called “independent state legislature” doctrine say “legislature” is a broad term that includes the commissions that the state constitution grants legislative powers.
After the election, Trump invited leaders of the Pennsylvania legislature to the White House, while continuing to make unfounded claims that widespread voter fraud had occurred, although no court agreed. Biden won the state by about 82,000 votes.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States previously dismissed this case as holding that the appellants did not have the legal right to present the case. The appellants wanted the Supreme Court to reverse that decision and claim that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court usurped the authority of the Pennsylvania General Assembly when it changed the voting rules prescribed by the legislature.
Vladeck said the court’s measure on Monday leaves the long-term legal issue unanswered.
“By dismissing the next decision and ordering the lower court to dismiss the lawsuit as debatable, the judges avoided tacitly approving or rejecting the lower court’s analysis, leaving no federal precedent to govern the question of whether the extension was allowed. Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The deadline to receive ballots in the mail last fall, “Vladeck said.
This story has been updated with additional details.